Penteo

Penteo Demo Room at the 2008 Audio Engineering Show in San Francisco

Penteo Surround, Inc. (Penteo) is a digital audio software vendor that markets ADL’s Penteo plug-ins for stereo-to-5.1 and stereo to 7.1 surround upmixing. As an up-mixer, Penteo transforms any stereo recording, soundtrack, DJ mix or live television broadcast into surround sound. Penteo claims that its technology results in a more natural and more precise sounding surround experience without generating any artificial & unwanted sounds, and only Penteo is 100% ITU down-mix compatible back to the original stereo track.

The Penteo process was first demonstrated publicly at the Surround Expo in Los Angeles in 2005 by John Wheeler of San Francisco, CA.

In 2009, Wheeler established Penteo Surround LLC was founded and marketed Penteo 1: a hardware based up-mix unit running a mashup of open source and 3rd party code. The technology was used extensively on the Watchmen and Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds motion picture productions. The code was intended as an open source product.

In 2010, after an investment in Penteo from the private equity company TCG LLC, Penteo Surround LLC was converted into Penteo Surround, Inc. TCG did not have interest in the public source version, and brought on Oxford Digital to completely rewrite Wheeler's original code.

In 2011, Penteo Surround, Inc. signed a partnership with Audiotech Digital Limited (ADL). ADL took on the development of a completely new code base & worldwide distribution for a new software plug-in.

In 2012, Penteo released the beta version of the new Penteo plug-in, called Penteo 3 Pro. The Penteo 3 Pro beta version was downloaded and tested by over 100 mixers from major television, recording and motion picture studios.

In April 2013, ADL’s Penteo 3 Pro was released and available for free trials. Penteo 3 Pro was completely re-written and has replaced the Penteo 1 hardware unit in the market. Penteo 3 Pro has been used extensively in film and television work including Dave Grohl’s Sound City, Seth Rogan’s This is The End, FX’s The Americans, and Cinemax’s Hunted.